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 Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:36 pm
The moment Danel left Iosef, The Voice regained control with a vengeance, urging him on to greater and greater speeds. The big, red Alpha ran full out, paying no heed to obstacles, appearing as only a blurred shadow even to the keenest of eyes. In fact, he ran so fast that, even though Iosef had said this sanctuary pack was only half a day away, Danel made it there in less than half that time.
Only when he caught the scent of a number of other wolves did Danel slow his reckless charge, melding with the shadows and carefully scoping out the territory. He even contemplated removing the cloak and orb that signified his station for a moment but the thought repulsed him. Instead, he relied on his superior stealth.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:07 pm
 Balios was just outside the borders. It wasn't abnormal for the dappled teen to wander these days -- he often spent his time browsing the outside world, searching out others to practice his diplomacy skills upon.
Today, however, he wasn't on such a pleasurable trip. Instead, he was searching somewhat frantically for another dapple-furred pup.
"Anatto?" He called, unable to conceal the desperation in his voice, the rising edge of panic. Oh, what a mess! When he had agreed to play hide'n'seek with his young cousin, he hadn't realized that the cousin in question would disappear entirely! How long had he been looking for the little monster? Too long, that was for sure.
He sighed, growing weary of all this. "Anatto, you're going to get us both in trouble," he whined. "And you do NOT want my mom mad at you!"
If the pup heard him, he gave no sign, and Balios didn't even know if he was close to him. He'd lost the pup's scent ages ago, and now he was wandering around in circles. Oh his mother would have his hide for this...
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:28 am
Hearing the frantic calls, Danel followed them to their source, stalking the young wolf as only the God-Alpha of The Brotherhood could. Obviously the teen was looking for someone, perhaps a pup, a male pup that was young enough to be molded and shaped...
"Now is not the time for this. We have a purpose here, God-Alpha," The Voice sniped in Danel's head. "Besides, this is work for an Omega. It would be beneath your station.."
Danel contemplated The Voice's words but soon shook them away. Yes, it was the purpose of the Omegas to steal and care for the pups but it was the duty of every Brother to strike when an opportunity presented itself. With that in mind, he continued his pursuit of Balios, hoping for this other wolf to be found. The Brotherhood always needed more Brothers...
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:49 am
"Anatto?" Balios said again, and sighed, flopping heavily down to his haunches. Oh, jeez. What a fiasco.
At least the pup couldn't have gotten into very much trouble, he thought. It's not like the YMCA territory was dangerous. ...Well, except for that bear that had traumatized poor Arii. Oh, great. He was getting eaten by a bear, at precisely this moment. Wouldn't that be great.
Shaking his head firmly he rose back up to his paws. His nephew was not being eaten by a bear. He had to get that straight in his head. Clearly he just wasn't thinking things through very clearly... In the shadows, an orange-and-brown pup was snickering to himself. He'd been following his cousin for nearly an hour now, carefully staying upwind, slipping through shadows, silently following after him.
It was so easy!
Anatto was a very smart pup. And it wasn't that his older cousin was dumb -- he wasn't -- it's just that Balios was the type of wolf to talk so much that he forgot to listen, and that applied to everything in his life, not just conversation. The dappled wolf was currently so busy working himself into a frenzy that he didn't even realize he was being followed by the very puppy he was looking for. Silly Balios.
Anatto muffled laughter into his paw and watched from the shadows behind him, thoroughly amused at this game.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:47 am
It didn't take very long for Danel to realize he was not the only one trailing Balios but the identity of the other stalker was immensely surprising. "The pup has skill," he thought to himself, observing the pup's behavior. Obviously, he was meant to be a Brother; there had only been a few other pups he'd ever met with so much natural talent. Even if he did not find the Traitor here, he had still made a valuable discovery.
Intrigued, he moved in closer, amused when the pup muffled a laugh. That tendency could be trained out of him... He stopped himself there. The Traitor was still the most important and, though the pup was intelligent, Danel might not find the answers that he was looking for there. Though the other talked too much and was probably too old to be taught The Way..
Considering his options, the big, red wolf continued to track them both, looking at the bigger picture; Could they lead him to The Traitor? And could they both possibly be converted?
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:52 pm
Anatto lingered a moment in the darkness, but felt eyes on him, from somewhere -- boogeyman eyes, maybe, monster eyes, he always had suspected that monsters dwelled in the shadows and beneath bushes -- and he slid away from his hiding place and, very calmly, padded out into the world. He was an unnervingly observant pup, always knowing what others were feeling, always catching the details that others missed.
Quietly, but not quite silently -- not that it matters now that Balios was working himself up into a tizzy of panic -- he padded up to his older cousin and batted his tail with a paw. "Cousin," he said, calmly. "I think there's a monster in the bushes."
Balios had been about to launch into another flurry of probably-empty threats when he felt something smack his tail. He screamed, in a very non-manly way, and whirled around, looking as though he might faint. "ANATTO!" He said, pouncing on the pup and looking him over carefully, sniffing him all over for any sign of maiming. "Don't you ever go running off like that again!" He said, and then he felt so strongly like his mother...well, maybe not his mother, but somebody's mother...that he backed away looking kind of shameful. He smiled a bit, at himself, feeling pretty ridiculous, and then caught up with what Anatto had said. "...What's this about a monster?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:04 am
Danel smiled at the mention of 'a monster in the bushes'. "Very skilled," he thought with pleasure, looking on the pup with new respect. It took keen senses indeed to notice the presence of the God-Alpha when he didn't want you to.. Knowing the game was up, Danel stepped from the bushes in grand style, wisps of shadow trailing off of his cloak and coiling around his paws.
"I believe Brother --Anatto is it?-- is referring to me," he said with a dark chuckle, looking down on the younger wolves. He paid special attention to Anatto, convinced now more than ever that the pup was meant to run with the shadows. "But I do believe I am a bit scarier than your average monster."
"What's scary is your shameful bravado..."
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:33 am
Balios jolted, moving to stand between the pup and this new, red interloper. His hackles raised, and he stood stiff-legged and stared at the other wolf. Balios had always been raised to welcome strangers with open paws. But somehow, this...seemed like it should be an exception to the rule. His eyes wandered over the lines of the red wolf's body. Was he dangerous? He truly hoped not -- Balios was not exactly a seasoned fighter -- but just from the look of him it seemed hopeless to expect that. "We mean you no harm, sir," he said, carefully, holding back Anatto with a paw. He was terrified, but also intrigued.
Anatto squirmed a little to get a look at him, peering through Balios's dappled legs. He tilted his head, a look of curiosity in his eyes. "You don't look like a monster," he said, calmly, despite his cousin's warning touch of the paw. "You look like a wolf."
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Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:20 am
Danel cocked his head to the side, turning his glowing emerald eyes on Balios. Amusement flickered in those eyes for a moment then quickly died, extinguished by the quality that set the Alpha apart from other wolves. "For someone who means me no harm, you certainly appear aggressive," he chided the younger wolf. "Do you really think it the best idea to provoke someone you do not know?"
With a snort, he returned his attention to the pup, lowering his head to get a better view of the possible addition to The Brotherhood. "Looks can be deceiving, Brother Anatto. Do not ever forget that." Smiling that cold smile of his, he continued, no longer addressing one of the two over the other but both in general, "I imagine, given the nature of the pack that can be found here, you have seen many lone wolves and haven't much cause to take note of them. But the one I seek is unusual. He wears a cloak, as I do. Both that and his fur are the color of summer leaves. He also has a weakness for trinkets of gold which he does not bother to hide but wears out in the open. Have you seen anyone like that?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:58 pm
Balios's ears folded back in shame. He was quite accustomed to being chastised; it hardly surprised him to receive the same treatment from an adult. He kept his paw firmly on Anatto's tail, so the curious pup wouldn't wander off, but the orange-pawed youth was already distracted.
"Apologies, sir," Balios said, lifting his eyes to survey Danel, allowing his gaze to linger long enough to determine that he had most certainly never seen any wolf like him before that he could recall. "I mean no offense. My cousin had...wandered off...and I lost my head a bit, I think."
He considered this for a moment, racking his brain for the presence of any such newcomer. He shook his head. "Not that I know of," he said, going over his mental inventory. "But I will ask around. Wolves come and go and sometimes I don't have the chance to meet everyone." He sounded a bit disappointed by that, but now he had hit his confident stride. He was diplomacizing! That always excited him. "You are welcome to linger here, for a time, if you need."
The idea that, perhaps, a threat could appear to the pack that could not be swiftly dealt with by the likes of his mother, grandmother, and Galahad had not even occurred to him -- and besides, if there were trouble, all of the Sisters would need to honor their agreement to protect them. As far as Balios was concerned, nothing could possibly be as terrifying as a group of angry amazons, and so he felt quite safe. Foolish, perhaps...but also maybe not without reason.
"Was he sent here by the Sisters?" Anatto asked, at length. His voice was back to its usual dry, nearly bored tone. "By his mother?" He ignored his cousin's attempts to hush him. "There's lots of those here. Boys without mothers."
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 8:48 am
Danel accepted Balios' apology with a graceful nod of his head and took the explanation without comment, having expected as much. The Traitor was likely more clever than to allow himself to be seen by many other wolves, even the ones that made up a pack of sanctuary. Perking his ears at Anatto's inquiries, the alpha frowned distastefully at the mention of the Sisters. "No," he started, speaking to the younger pup. "This one has no mother and was not sent by these Sisters," he said, his tone dripping with scorn over the title. "Traitors are not sent; they go where they will until they are caught."
(( I'm so sorry about my slowass reply. ><;; *grumbles about finals and registration* ))
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 2:03 am
"Oh," Anatto said, glumly. His ears drooped a bit in disappointment. Sulkily, he added, "Balios, you're flattening my tail."
Balios withdrew his paw from his cousin's tail, though kept one eye on him, keen to catch him if he tried to scamper away again. His ears perked as Danel spoke. "He must have done something very bad," he said, not quite sure why he was saying anything at all. Still, the alpha's tone caught his attention. He wondered achingly what the traitor had done, and who he had done it to. "Is he dangerous?"
((not a problem. I've been quite elsewhere myself recently!))
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Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:26 pm
Danel's emerald green eyes lingered for a moment on the younger pup, gauging Anatto's reaction. Then he returned his attention to Balios and laughed, a sound of dark and bitter amusement. "Everyone is dangerous in some fashion, Brother. You would do well to take that lesson to heart," he intoned cryptically, speaking from experience and ending on a gusty sigh. He knew he would not find the information he sought here. Still, his visit to this place had not been totally without reward..
As he thought that last, his gaze returned to Anatto. Endless potential there but also a disturbing interest in females. That could be cured, though..
"In any case, I cannot linger here any longer. I must resume my search. May the Shadows watch over you, Brothers." With a final parting nod, he gracefully got to his feet and regally walked passed them, trailing wisps of shadow before finally melding with their darkness once more, an apparition seen one moment and gone the next.
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Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:30 am
The cousins exchanged a curious look -- Anatto intrigued, Balios befuddled -- as the red wolf disappeared into the darkness. Balios's brow furrowed. Was that a ghost he had seen, he wondered? No, couldn't be. Balios didn't believe in ghosts.
Still...there was something altogether very odd about what had just transpired here.
Grabbing Anatto by the scruff before the pup could follow after the red one, he dragged the whining, resisting pup back home, his thoughts caught up with unease and questions he couldn't answer.
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